DoctorMegan Gath

Dr. Gath's research interests are centred in developmental psychology, with a focus on parenting, family dynamics, and children's social, emotional, and moral development. Recent projects include a focus on child and youth screen media use in relation to developmental outcomes including language, educational skills, social functioning, and mental health.

Dr. Gath specialises in secondary analysis of large-scale datasets, including work with the Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI), the Growing Up in New Zealand study, the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, and the national assessment dataset from the Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA).

Between Sept 2024 and Aug 2026, Dr. Gath has an Emerging Researcher Fellowship with the Canterbury Medical Research Foundation (CMRF) to examine the developmental impacts of screen media use in childhood.